My husband and i are becoming gardening bores so my children say

Our 5 children showed little interest in the garden and often complained about being asked to help. Eldest has not got a large garden and taken various RHS qualifications for interest. Second son is now gorwing his own veg. Eldest girl has a large garden and is mad keen, middle girl has a garden and is really enjoying it and the youngest , after greeting the cats goes and walks round our garden to see what we have been doing. Yours will probably be the same.
As to the molluscs, they are very bad this year. As you have pets why not try the Nematode worms which kill the snails and cannot harm other animals?

where can i get nematode worms from

I've no idea where you get them from, but most large garden centres stock biological style controls for slugs and snails, though whether they're nematode based, I can't say.

I always remember thinking how boring gardening was when a child, with a father who loved gardening. Once I got to around 26 I started gardening myself and got the bug. Since then I've discovered my grandfather was a professional gardener in charge of a large manor house garden. So perhaps it must run in the family. Gardening is so varied it just can't be boring and I can't understand people who say they hate gardening. On slugs and snails, several people on GOY have suggested copper tape around precious plants. I've found over the years the only really effective method is hand picking at night by torchlight, or very early in the morning before they go 'back to bed'. But either kill the ones you collect or take them half a mile away from your garden. I've had them return from a hundred metres away!

I must buy im outdoors new batteries for his torch another job for him to do i cannot bear touching the little blighters

Try spraying around with Garlic water. Boil a complete Garlic bulb slightly crushed in water and let simmer for a while then drain off and use the water as a slug deterant.

Hardly any snails in my garden until the last couple of days. After the downpours there were masses along the path this morning. Not the big, grey ones but rather pretty small yellow and black ones Couldn't bear to tread on them by mistake so threw them back under the hebe. I'll try the garlic I think.

my cousin, ( no longer with us so I can't ask him!) used to get nematodes by mail order. Why not try googling it?